International and Regional Programs
Background Papers
Title / Normative References in ISO Publications
Objective / Issue / To clarify the ISO policy and procedures regarding normative references in ISO standards to standards not developed by ISO or IEC.
Background / In recent years, U.S. participants in ISO standards developing committees experienced differences in the interpretation of whether documents other than ISO and IEC standards could be used as normative references in ISO and IEC standards. In some cases, ISO committee leaders and experts from other countries were asserting that only ISO and/or IEC standards could be listed as normative references. In some cases, some committees even took policy decisions that they would only use ISO and/or IEC standards as normative references.
As a result, ANSI petitioned the ISO Technical Management Board (ISO/TMB to review and clarify the ISO policy on this matter. The results were published in an ISO policy document on normative references, the full text of which is available for your information and use.
Summary Clarification
of the ISO Normative References Policy / The basic rules concerning normative references are given in 6.2.2 of Part 2 of the ISO/IEC Directives (4th edition, 2001).
In principle, the referenced documents shall preferentially be documents published by ISO and/or IEC. However ISO committees may normatively reference documents published by other bodies provided that:
·  the referenced document is recognized by the ISO and/or IEC committee concerned as having wide acceptance and authoritative status as well as being publicly available,
·  the ISO and/or IEC committee concerned has obtained the agreement of the authors or publishers (where known) of the referenced document to its inclusion and to its being made available as required – the authors or publishers will be expected to make available such documents on request,
·  the authors or publishers (where known) have also agreed to inform the ISO and/or IEC committee concerned of their intention to revise the referenced document and of the points the revision will concern, and
·  the ISO and/or IEC committee concerned undertakes to review the situation in the light of any changes in the referenced document.
The goal is for ISO documents to be market relevant and thus, in the examination of work needing to be done, ISO committees should consider whether the ISO document may normatively refer to one or more documents already in existence that meet the needs of global users and whose developers agree to any necessary requirements of the IEC/ISO Directives to support such normative references.
As a matter of policy, ISO does not require normatively referenced non-ISO or non-IEC documents to be transposed into ISO or IEC publications. Nevertheless, when it is proposed to revise a document that is normatively referenced in an ISO publication, the authors/publishers are encouraged to consider the possibility of offering the revision to ISO. If, in other circumstances, a committee sees merit in transposition, rather than normative referencing, of another document, it shall seek the agreement of the authors/publishers of the referenced document. Any unilateral action would essentially constitute copyright infringement which could potentially lead to litigation.
Finally, in the past, a number of ISO committees are reported to have adopted policies of making normative reference ONLY to ISO or IEC publications. The Technical Management Board has now ruled that such policies shall be withdrawn.
Why is this
ISO Normative Reference Policy Clarification Important? / Making normative reference to, rather than reproducing text from, another document has a number of benefits such as:
·  reducing unnecessary and duplicative expenses to standards developers, participants, experts and users of standards,
·  eliminating redundancy,
·  increasing the speed of development while preserving the scope and global relevance of ISO documents.
When an appropriate ISO or IEC publication does not exist, publications of other bodies may be referenced normatively. Normative references to such non-ISO or IEC publications that are accepted and used globally may:
·  provide greater flexibility to best serve the specific needs of particular communities or sectors;
·  establish a worldwide implementation of ISO standards in cooperation and concert with standards of other bodies, rather than in competition with them.
ANSI Policy Body Addressing Issue / ANSI ISO Council
Contact / Steven Cornish
Program Director – International Policy
American National Standards Institute
E-mail:
Telephone: +1.212.642.4969
Publication Date / August 2005
Reprints / This document is publicly available.
Further distribution to interested parties is encouraged.
American National Standards Institute /
Page 2 of 2